All-Around, Individual, Women

The United States had won the gold medal in the women’s gymnastics individual all-around for the last two Olympics and were expected to repeat this feat at the 2012 London Games. Jordyn Wieber was the reigning World Champion and thus the favorite among her teammates to win the event but, in the qualification round, the Americans finished second, third, and fourth, with Wieber behind her teammates Aly Raisman and Gabby Douglas. The competition had a “two finalists per country” rule, meaning that the World Champion was eliminated from the event. Viktoriya Komova of Russia, the runner-up at the World Championships, had finished first and was now in a better position to win the gold medal, but the stellar performances from the Americans made this far from certain.

In the final Douglas had the highest marks on the vault and the balance beam and, having finished third on the uneven bars, was in an excellent position to be crowned Olympic champion, even after slipping to fourth in the floor exercise. The only competitor with a realistic hope of overtaking her was Komova, who had finished third in the vault and second on the uneven bars and balance beam. The Russian would have needed a score of over 15.300, higher than the eventual top mark in the event, to surpass Douglas and was unable to meet it, scoring a 15.100 that still put her far above the two contenders for bronze. At the end of the tournament, Raisman had tied the score of Russian Aliya Mustafina, the 2010 World Champion, necessitating a tie-breaker to determine the final podium spot. The winner was determined by taking the total of their top three events, which gave the bronze medal to the Russian with a score of 45.933 against the American’s 45.366.